I have been thinking a little more about podcasting and the role it plays in new media development. It's like the new media tool nobody talks about just chilling in the background. I decided it's worth a separate post about its relevance. (Podcasting is the publishing of audio files on the Internet. Previous post about podcasting is here.)
Everyone always talks about online video taking over the world, but I think we should not forget podcasts. Of course the concept of podcasting can be applicable to "video-casting" as well. Two observations about podcasting:
1. Podcasts expanded the reach of radio shows. I suspect many radio shows would not continue to thrive without the development of podcasting for listeners like me who have yet to use the radio attachment for their iPod. I was just reading a Q&A with Ira Glass from This American Life, one of America's most popular radio programs:
2. Podcast listeners seem to be growing.Podcasts: Have you found that podcasting has changed TAL? I'm incredibly grateful to the podcasts, which give me access to TAL for my subway commute or running errands. I would imagine that there are lots of people like me, and that TAL's exposure has grown as a result of podcasts. But are there other ways in which the podcasting has changed the show?
Ira Glass: Interestingly, it's pulled in a much younger audience. The radio audience has stayed the same size - 1.8 million people a week - but now there's this extra half million people and they're much much younger than the public radio audience. Which is fantastic, of course. I know meet lots of people in their teens and twenties at our live events, and some of them aren't public radio listeners at all. They simply know us as a podcast.
In terms of content this hasn't changed the show but in terms of reach, it's really nice.
The majority of Americans do not listen to podcasts, but the number of Americans who do has grown from 18% to 22% of Americans, according to a recent study by Edison.
Interesting, the study discludes "the download of program-oriented online audio (such as a talk show or a hosted music program), usually as an automatic download that can be listened to at the user’s convenience.” I'm not entirely sure, then, what didn't count for the study; but the number of Americans listening to non-musical audio content on their iPod could be higher.
The study also found that more Americans are aware of podcasting (43% compared to 22% in 2006).
I like what social media expert Anna Farmery says about the study in The Engaging Brand Blog:
As much as people keep saying that podcasting is dead, I wonder whether in the long run podcasting will be one of the true winners of Web 2.0. Often steady year on year growth is worth much more than rapid growth followed by rapid dis-engagement.
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3 comments:
Awesome blog and I love this post! Interesting observations and for me, your first observation is 100% correct. During college, I never listened to the radio because I went to school in a city where I never drove, which is the place where I usually listened to radio. But since I started listening to podcasts, I've become addicted to some shows, including This American Life and On the Media.
So often the focus is on the video, as your point out, but podcasting is a fantastic medium as well with its own distinct advantages.
Podcasting is in fact dead. Much like the Cop drama on prime time is dead. Much like the Hospital drama on prime time is dead. Much like the Big Summer Action Blockbusters are dead.
Our show at SomaCow.com continues to get comments from people that listen to us at work or the drive to work. That is something video cannot accomplish.
Recently, Adam Corolla stated that he had really poor numbers for his podcast in the range of only 100,000 or so daily downloads.
@Jaclyn
I'm so glad you agree! I also love video and know that it really has more room to grow than podcasting, but the power of pure audio is not going away.
@Mickey
Thanks for the proof that podcasting, in fact, is not dead :) Sometimes I think we forget what Americans really LIKE (love the comparison to the hospital drama!)
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